tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24600622966155978042017-08-27T04:29:02.591-07:00Life So Mundane in BatangasBasically a Batangas-oriented web site with articles on the cities and municipalities around the Province; but also with many more articles about a wide variety of topics.Rex Raymond Torrecampohttps://plus.google.com/103496568466527752730noreply@blogger.comBlogger1732125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2460062296615597804.post-26445631545900275592017-08-26T19:08:00.001-07:002017-08-26T19:14:16.709-07:00Gayuma, Anting-anting and other Tagalog Charms in 1915 (and how they were made)
Image directly loaded from Wassup Pilipinas.
Charms are “objects used to avert evil and bring good fortune1.” People have been known to have used them as early as the Neolithic Age, when primitive men picked up unusual looking stones or pieces of wood and carried these with them thinking that these could protect them against their enemies2. These objects have been used by people all over the <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LifeSoMundane/~4/zg72UZft_bo" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Rex Raymond Torrecampohttps://plus.google.com/103496568466527752730noreply@blogger.comhttp://lifesomundane.net/2017/08/charms.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2460062296615597804.post-12476833851293415492017-08-25T01:00:00.001-07:002017-08-25T01:02:43.564-07:00Tanauan City: Historical and Folkloric Trivia about some of its Barrios
Satellite picture of Tanauan City. Image credit: Google Earth.
This article is part of a series that focuses on historic and folkloric trivia about the barrios of the towns and cities of Batangas. Information contained in this series has been extracted from documents on the country’s barrios, towns and cities written in the 1950s and digitized for posterity by the National Library of the <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LifeSoMundane/~4/xx8OVnkNktM" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Rex Raymond Torrecampohttps://plus.google.com/103496568466527752730noreply@blogger.comhttp://lifesomundane.net/2017/08/tanauan.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2460062296615597804.post-74350238044778866432017-08-21T22:12:00.000-07:002017-08-21T22:12:14.126-07:009 Philippine UFO Sightings Included among Project Blue Book Files
Image credit: World UFO Day.
For the benefit of readers not into these things, Project Blue Book was a systematic and scientific study of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO) conducted by the United States Air Force starting in 1952. By the time the project was terminated in 1970, it had collected and studied a total of 12,618 UFO reports.
The overwhelming conclusion at the end of the project <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LifeSoMundane/~4/Rb_kaev203w" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Rex Raymond Torrecampohttps://plus.google.com/103496568466527752730noreply@blogger.comhttp://lifesomundane.net/2017/08/bluebook.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2460062296615597804.post-41232054663920347102017-08-19T21:40:00.000-07:002017-08-19T21:48:13.670-07:00Mataasnakahoy: Historical and Folkloric Trivia about some of Its Barrios
Satellite photo of Mataasnakahoy. Image credit: Google Earth.
This article is part of a series on historical and folkloric information about the towns and cities of Batangas at the barrio level. The information contained herein has been taken from documents required in the early fifties by the administration of Elpidio Quirino for the reconstruction of the nation’s history after vital <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LifeSoMundane/~4/du3JLpmZoWs" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Rex Raymond Torrecampohttps://plus.google.com/103496568466527752730noreply@blogger.comhttp://lifesomundane.net/2017/08/kahoy.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2460062296615597804.post-69523319863627374062017-08-19T00:07:00.000-07:002017-08-19T05:45:53.227-07:00Marriage Customs in Batangas in 1916
Image credit: DIY Wedding Favor Tags.
A paper written in 1916 by one Remedios Q. Kalalo entitled “Marriage Customs in Batangas1” provides valuable insights about Batangueño culture at the dawn of the American colonial era in the Philippines. The paper is part of the Henry Otley Beyer Collection of the National Library of the Philippines Digital Collections.
The author limited her scope to <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LifeSoMundane/~4/chAbL8RoTok" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Rex Raymond Torrecampohttps://plus.google.com/103496568466527752730noreply@blogger.comhttp://lifesomundane.net/2017/08/marriage.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2460062296615597804.post-75845923803362467832017-08-17T21:22:00.002-07:002017-08-17T21:22:42.644-07:00The Tiyanak: Comparing Beliefs Acquired in Batangas to those in Bulacan in 1922
Image credit: Iaaaaaaaaaan on Deviant Art.
As a little boy growing up in the sixties when Batangas was so much more rural and the nights were a lot quieter, the sound of a baby crying outside used to make my heart pound with fear. Instantly racing through my mind would be thoughts of – please God no! – the tiyanak!
Never mind that it was probably one of the neighbors’ newborn crying. In the<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LifeSoMundane/~4/w1-Vsj_LH-k" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Rex Raymond Torrecampohttps://plus.google.com/103496568466527752730noreply@blogger.comhttp://lifesomundane.net/2017/08/tiyanak.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2460062296615597804.post-72879110791504830902017-08-16T22:53:00.000-07:002017-08-16T22:53:26.191-07:00Historical and Folkloric Trivia about some Barrios of Batangas City
Satellite photo of Batangas City. Image credit: Google Earth.
Introduction
Conde Itaas and Conde Labak
There used to be just one barrio named Conde in what was then the town of Batangas. However, in 1934, when one Perfecto Condes was the mayor of the town, the barrio was divided into two. One section was named Conde Itaas while the other was named Conde Labak. Each had its own barrio <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LifeSoMundane/~4/wISAZ-3uDiI" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Rex Raymond Torrecampohttps://plus.google.com/103496568466527752730noreply@blogger.comhttp://lifesomundane.net/2017/08/batcitybarrios.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2460062296615597804.post-48862469912467851352017-08-15T06:23:00.000-07:002017-08-16T16:56:17.570-07:00The Untold Story of the Gasoline Station in front of DLSL
Image credit: Google Street View.
I was surprised last week when I passed by the Caltex gasoline station beside De La Salle in Lipa City to find that it had closed down. After a moment, I realized that its lease must have expired. I cannot be sure now if the lease was for 20 or 25 years, but what I am certain about is that the lease was indeed due to expire this year.
That piece of land was<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LifeSoMundane/~4/nNF2w66cYxo" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Rex Raymond Torrecampohttps://plus.google.com/103496568466527752730noreply@blogger.comhttp://lifesomundane.net/2017/08/caltex.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2460062296615597804.post-4759072190109143362017-08-14T04:10:00.001-07:002017-08-23T20:47:42.215-07:00How Some Barrios of Lipa City Got their Names
Satellite photo of Lipa City as seen on Google Earth.
In 1953, Department of Education divisions all over the country had to submit local histories to the National Library of the Philippines to compensate for historical documents destroyed during World War II. These documents have been digitized and are now available at the NLP’s web site.
From these documents, we are able to extract <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LifeSoMundane/~4/GjmP3p1Tle8" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Rex Raymond Torrecampohttps://plus.google.com/103496568466527752730noreply@blogger.comhttp://lifesomundane.net/2017/08/barrio.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2460062296615597804.post-19473174229738931482017-08-10T23:26:00.003-07:002017-08-10T23:26:36.115-07:00Powerful Magnitude 6.3 Earthquake Jolts Batangas
Image credit: Phivolcs.
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck 16 kilometers west of Nasugbu, Batangas at 1:28 in the afternoon of Friday, 11 August 2017. The earthquake was actually more powerful than those that hit off Tingloy Island and Mabini last April.
However, the one today was much deeper at 160 kilometers below the surface, so the intensity of the shaking was likely not felt as badly as <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LifeSoMundane/~4/hHmPjiR3UmU" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Rex Raymond Torrecampohttps://plus.google.com/103496568466527752730noreply@blogger.comhttp://lifesomundane.net/2017/08/quake.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2460062296615597804.post-20881551136511379542017-08-10T20:12:00.004-07:002017-08-11T06:53:53.501-07:00Pictures of Taal Volcano Taken before the Destructive 1911 Eruption
In the crater of Taal volcano. Image credit: University of Michigan Digital Collections.
At the University of Michigan Digital Archives, there is a collection of pictures taken of Taal Volcano likely before the 1911 eruption. The pictures, which are all part of the Everett Thompson Photograph Collection, were likely taken during an expedition to the Main Volcano Crater. Most of the pictures<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LifeSoMundane/~4/X91LlfOwtHQ" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Rex Raymond Torrecampohttps://plus.google.com/103496568466527752730noreply@blogger.comhttp://lifesomundane.net/2017/08/1911taal.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2460062296615597804.post-45806998861527303432017-08-07T21:04:00.001-07:002017-08-09T07:28:57.877-07:00Sonny Lozano and the Little-Known Story of Jose Mari Chan’s First-ever Single “Afterglow”
Left, Sonny Lozano with his beauteous wife Beth. Right, Jose Mari Chan while on vacation in Bohol in 2010.
After dinner last night, I listened across the table to Sonny Lozano as he narrated the story of how he produced Jose Mari Chan’s first-ever single “Afterglow.” I had heard the story countless times before, but like a child being told a fairy tale before bed, I still get totally <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LifeSoMundane/~4/O-2R9FCefFI" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Rex Raymond Torrecampohttps://plus.google.com/103496568466527752730noreply@blogger.comhttp://lifesomundane.net/2017/08/lozano.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2460062296615597804.post-73204042557669489802017-08-06T20:14:00.001-07:002017-08-06T20:14:59.238-07:00Classic Photos of Bauan, Taal and Tanauan taken in the Early 1900s
Image credit: University of Michigan Digital Collections, with the title “Seven men” taken 2 January 1904 in Batangas.
In a way, photographic essays can be more descriptive than those made with words; and this one gives very graphic descriptions of life in Batangas in the early years of the American colonial era. All the pictures are taken from the University of Michigan Digital Collections.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LifeSoMundane/~4/-zAUHIzMXH4" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Rex Raymond Torrecampohttps://plus.google.com/103496568466527752730noreply@blogger.comhttp://lifesomundane.net/2017/08/classic.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2460062296615597804.post-62389823529267470682017-08-05T04:55:00.003-07:002017-08-05T07:17:00.126-07:00DLSL Sports, Breaking New Ground in the Late Eighties
DLSL teams in the eighties.
The other week, while discussing the formation of a local league with the football coach of UB-Lipa Campus, I was amused that he looked so concerned about having to collect the registration fee from his players. That, I told him, would be no different from what I myself used to do when I was still a young coach at DLSL back in the eighties.
Then, competitions were <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LifeSoMundane/~4/ZZGIarzZQFE" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Rex Raymond Torrecampohttps://plus.google.com/103496568466527752730noreply@blogger.comhttp://lifesomundane.net/2017/08/sports.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2460062296615597804.post-91139115436577047432017-08-04T20:05:00.000-07:002017-08-04T20:11:37.193-07:00Dr. Jose P. Laurel and the “Dirtiest Election” in Philippine Electoral History
Both pictures above in the public domain.
Many readers will have heard of Dr. Jose Paciano Laurel, born in 1891 in what was then the town of Tanauan in Batangas, from secondary school history lessons. He was twice elected to the Philippine Senate, the first time in 1925 when the country was still an American colony; and again in 1951 when the Philippines were already a fledgling independent <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LifeSoMundane/~4/VzAh53HwT4E" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Rex Raymond Torrecampohttps://plus.google.com/103496568466527752730noreply@blogger.comhttp://lifesomundane.net/2017/08/laurel.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2460062296615597804.post-77291801956094752672017-08-01T20:13:00.002-07:002017-08-04T17:07:01.567-07:00Art Event in Lipa City Showcased Best of Batangas Visual Talents
The recent My City, My SM, My Art at SM City Lipa.
As My City, My SM, My Art continues its cultural journey around the Philippines, its stop at SM City Lipa last 13-20 July was very special because it highlighted the importance of mentorship and the next generation artists. Two of the featured artists were Jonathan Olazo and Paulina Luz Sotto. Jonathan is the son of Master Artist Romulo Olazo<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LifeSoMundane/~4/vfcOUl1RkMI" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Rex Raymond Torrecampohttps://plus.google.com/103496568466527752730noreply@blogger.comhttp://lifesomundane.net/2017/08/art.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2460062296615597804.post-53580587500195046602017-07-30T23:19:00.003-07:002017-08-01T18:54:47.330-07:00Forgotten Historical Trivia about some Towns and Cities of Batangas Part II
Image credit: Sandra Plummer Collection at the Fort Worth Library's Digital Archive.
← Part I
This is the second of two articles featuring historical trivia largely ignored by conventional Philippine history textbooks but immortalized in documents submitted by schools in 1953 in compliance to President Elpidio Quirino’s directive to reconstruct the nation’s history.
Not all of Batangas’ <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LifeSoMundane/~4/wp9YMDyvAFc" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Rex Raymond Torrecampohttps://plus.google.com/103496568466527752730noreply@blogger.comhttp://lifesomundane.net/2017/07/trivia2.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2460062296615597804.post-1392062978006841922017-07-28T06:28:00.000-07:002017-08-01T18:54:00.528-07:00Forgotten Historical Trivia about some Towns and Cities of Batangas Part I
The Cathedral of San Sebastian in Lipa in the early 1900s. Image credit: The Luther Parker Collection at the NLP Digital Collections.
Because important historical documents in the possession of the National Library of the Philippines were destroyed during World War II, in 1951 President Elpidio Quirno issued Executive Order #486 instructing Department of Education schools around the country <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LifeSoMundane/~4/ugIC5Kjxsug" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Rex Raymond Torrecampohttps://plus.google.com/103496568466527752730noreply@blogger.comhttp://lifesomundane.net/2017/07/trivia1.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2460062296615597804.post-43521473632876341022017-07-27T01:52:00.000-07:002017-07-27T01:52:21.877-07:00The Folkloric Story of the Beginnings of Batangas City
Image credit: Sandra Plummer Collection at the Fort Worth Library's Digital Archive.
The origins of today’s modern, large and still growing port city of Batangas, capital of the province of the same name, can only be reconstructed from folklore. To begin with, our forebears, although they had a form of writing, used this on materials that were very much perishable.
While the Spaniards, when <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LifeSoMundane/~4/Vau0oHfW3tU" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Rex Raymond Torrecampohttps://plus.google.com/103496568466527752730noreply@blogger.comhttp://lifesomundane.net/2017/07/batangascity.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2460062296615597804.post-67669382378420558322017-07-24T22:59:00.000-07:002017-08-07T18:18:31.756-07:004 Different Versions about How Taal Got Its Name
The street in Taal leading to the town of Lemery.
Among the names of Batangas’ towns and cities, perhaps the one that has fascinated me the most is Taal, and not least because there are several versions of how it got its name. This is one of those things that we will probably never get a definitive answer to because documentation was not among the strengths of our forebears. If at all they <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LifeSoMundane/~4/aSulebfn_Ps" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Rex Raymond Torrecampohttps://plus.google.com/103496568466527752730noreply@blogger.comhttp://lifesomundane.net/2017/07/taal.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2460062296615597804.post-27249212139745272172017-07-24T18:30:00.000-07:002017-07-24T18:32:50.529-07:00The Rainbow Regiment: the Batangueño Guerilla Group in WWII
Image credit: John Tewell.
In two earlier articles, I wrote about the exploits of the Hunters/ROTC, a guerilla group that was formed in the province of Rizal but relocated its headquarters to Nasugbu as the liberation of Luzon by Allied forces neared in 1944. But there was another guerilla group operating in Batangas, one that was organized by Batangueños and composed also of Batangueños. <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LifeSoMundane/~4/4ybICxL9VH4" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Rex Raymond Torrecampohttps://plus.google.com/103496568466527752730noreply@blogger.comhttp://lifesomundane.net/2017/07/rainbow.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2460062296615597804.post-86739244288656288012017-07-23T21:58:00.000-07:002017-08-02T18:08:31.156-07:00Feminist Clemencia Lopez of Balayan, the First Filipina to Visit the White House
Captured from Laura R. Prieto's paper "A Delicate Subject: Clemencia López, Civilized Womanhood, and the Politics of Anti-Imperialism"
In the year 1902, a 26-year old Batangueña from the town of Balayan in Batangas became the first Filipina to ever set foot in the White House. Her name was Clemencia Lopez, daughter of Natalio Lopez by the former Maria Costelo1. The Lopez family was among <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LifeSoMundane/~4/XQ-KWRWpf5I" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Rex Raymond Torrecampohttps://plus.google.com/103496568466527752730noreply@blogger.comhttp://lifesomundane.net/2017/07/feminist.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2460062296615597804.post-33261123004360144212017-07-21T20:45:00.001-07:002017-07-21T20:45:18.612-07:00US Terrain Intelligence Pre-WWII Photos of Batangas
Actual cover of the Allied intelligence terrain study.
The photographs contained in this collection are taken from a document dated November 1944 entitled “Terrain Study No. 95 Batangas-Lucena.” The declassified document was originally from the Allied Geographical Section called the Southwest Pacific Area, which was responsible for the liberation of the Philippines from Japanese occupation in <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LifeSoMundane/~4/fE2QQ4G6U4o" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Rex Raymond Torrecampohttps://plus.google.com/103496568466527752730noreply@blogger.comhttp://lifesomundane.net/2017/07/terrain.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2460062296615597804.post-13496582695859714382017-07-17T22:28:00.001-07:002017-07-18T19:46:52.703-07:00PHL Volleyball Team, with Batangas Core, Pushes Regional Power Thailand All the Way in ASEAN Tournament
The Philippine girls' volleyball team in the ASEAN Schools Games. Image credit: Malou L. Malaluan.
A Philippine girls’ volleyball team, the core of which is from the secondary girls’ team of De la Salle in Lipa City, pushed regional powerhouse Thailand all the way earlier today in the ASEAN School Games being held in Singapore before eventually succumbing in the fifth set of a tightly fought <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LifeSoMundane/~4/i40syDCAPYk" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Rex Raymond Torrecampohttps://plus.google.com/103496568466527752730noreply@blogger.comhttp://lifesomundane.net/2017/07/asean.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2460062296615597804.post-45184478813513942282017-07-16T21:19:00.000-07:002017-07-24T19:46:43.596-07:006 Batangueño Amusements to Pass Time in 1916
Lipa Town in 1911, from the Lucas Parker Collection at the NLP Digital Collections.
Boredom is, by and large, no longer a concern for most contemporary Batangueños. There are large malls in the province which people can visit to pass the time. Even those who prefer to stay at home have a glut of channels to choose from if they can afford cable television. There are also social media and the <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LifeSoMundane/~4/YVu6VD92_-A" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Rex Raymond Torrecampohttps://plus.google.com/103496568466527752730noreply@blogger.comhttp://lifesomundane.net/2017/07/amusements.html